


Thunderstorm

by Koujakuba



Category: DRAMAtical Murder - All Media Types
Genre: Baby KouAo, Comfort, Fluff, I'm still awful at titles and summaries OTL, Kouao Week, M/M, tiny scared Aobaby
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-17
Updated: 2015-08-17
Packaged: 2018-04-15 05:06:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,299
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4593957
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Koujakuba/pseuds/Koujakuba
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Even though the storm raging outside is loud, Aoba is definitely <i>not</i> scared.</p><p>(KouAo Week, Day 1: "Childhood")</p>
            </blockquote>





	Thunderstorm

The rain pounds against the windows, sometimes so loud that it drowns out all other sounds - the television, the silly cartoon he loves to bits but is unable to focus on right now, and the sounds of Granny making dinner in the kitchen. The frequent rolls of thunder make the very ground shake, startling the little boy with each clap. The sounds bring him to tears and make him shiver, and he feels like such a baby…  
  
Why couldn’t this stupid storm wait for Koujaku to go home? Now he’s going to see that Aoba is scared and probably make fun of him… Except Aoba decides he won’t give Koujaku a chance to tease him because he _isn’t_ scared, he’s too brave to be scared of this silly storm—  
  
There’s another deafening sound of thunder that shakes the walls and the floor, shattering his counterfeit bravery in an instant, and, instinctively, he pulls the blanket wrapped around his shoulders over his head, hiding his face as he lets out another terrified wail. He hopes being wrapped in a soft blanket would soothe him somehow, but it doesn’t seem to be working at all.  
  
There’s a light pressure and warmth on his shoulder just then and a soothing voice:  
  
“It’s okay, you don’t have to be afraid.”  
  
Leave it to Koujaku to sound strong, as if none of these loud and scary sounds bother him at all. It’s not fair - he isn’t afraid of anything.  
  
“I’m not scared!” is what he wants to say, blurt it out confident and stubborn despite it being a blatant lie, but the rain beats against the window even harder, followed by more thunder and he cuts himself off with a ragged sob.  
  
The desire to act tough in front of his friend is definitely there but it doesn’t seem possible to actually do it right now.  
  
That hand resting on his shoulder gives a gentle squeeze, reassurance that at least he doesn’t have to deal with this scary situation by himself. Maybe it’s a good thing he’s still here, Granny is busy cooking and has no time to comfort him right now, but Koujaku’s entire reason for coming here today was to play with him, for that reason, he certainly won’t be too busy to comfort him.  
  
“Aoba, will you please come out now?”  
  
His lip curves into a pout and he adamantly shakes his head between light sniffles. His little “hiding place” does nothing to muffle the sounds and he can still see the lightning flashes through the fabric, but he’s determined, hoping that eventually it will quiet the sounds.  
  
“It’s okay - you know I won’t let anything happen to you, right?”  
  
“But—” sobs choke his words and tears blur his eyes, he shakes and sniffles and can’t build up the courage to uncover himself. “It’s scary…” it’s not something he wants to admit, so the words are soft and he’s convinced Koujaku wasn’t able to hear them over the rain anyway.  
  
“If you’re scared, you can hold my hand, but you have to come out first… or let me in…”  
  
He considers the latter option for a moment, but he decides it’s hot and stuffy enough with just his head under the blanket, it will be much worse with two people, so he’ll come out (he needs fresh air anyway). It’s not because he _needs_ to hold Koujaku’s hand right now though, not like that will automatically make him feel any better, but he will just in case.  
  
He pulls the blanket back just enough to poke his face out, and steals a glance at his smiling friend before he has to squeeze his eyes shut when there’s a flash, another rumble. It takes effort to free one of his hands from the blanket, and he uses caution when reaching for Koujaku’s hand, still trying to pretend he’s not scared even after he already sort of admitted he is (even though he hadn’t been hiding it well in the first place). He begins to pretend that he’s going to hold the older boy’s hand for Koujaku’s sake, like he’s the one who’s scared and needs comfort and Aoba is the strong one (he’s already decided that Koujaku isn’t afraid of anything, but, for now, he’ll pretend he didn’t).  
  
He tucks his hand into his friend’s larger one and appreciates the light squeeze when Koujaku’s fingers curl around his trembling hand. He dares to let the blanket fully fall from his head and bristles when Koujaku immediately starts laughing.  
  
“Don’t laugh at me! That’s mean!” he bites his lip, feeling betrayed, and tries to stifle his sobs.  
  
“I’m not laughing at you - your hair got messed up and it’s sticking out everywhere.”  
  
Aoba rubs away tears with the back of his free hand, and lets out a soft confession of “…It’s kind of prickly and it tickles…”  
  
“That’s because it’s full of static electricity. Here, I’ll try to fix—” but he freezes as soon as he reaches out his free hand, eyes widening when Aoba preemptively winces and pulls away. “I-I mean… it should go back to normal soon…” he drops his hand at his side and looks the other way, and, somehow, it makes Aoba feel bad, like it’s his fault Koujaku feels uncomfortable now. Koujaku was only trying to help, and now he’s gone and made him uncomfortable - if only his hair wasn’t so stupid, making him jump at every attempt to touch it, if only it was just like everyone else’s—  
  
“S-sorry, Aoba… I… forgot for a second… I’m really sorry, I won’t touch it…”  
  
He’s not entirely sure why Koujaku is apologizing, doesn’t understand that guilty look in his eyes - he didn’t actually _do_ anything. Regardless, Aoba immediately forgives him, and tries to show that by sharing his blanket, throwing part of it over the older boy’s legs. It’s enough to bring the gentle smile back to Koujaku’s face and he’s happy.  
  
Until the rain picks up again, that is.  
  
His pout returns as he shivers and wiggles closer to Koujaku, holds his hand in a death grip. He feels a little better when Koujaku shifts to give him a tight but careful hug, still keeping his hand safely inside his bigger and stronger hand.  
  
It should be okay to let Koujaku comfort him, he probably won’t tease him if he’s truly afraid (well, Koujaku didn’t make fun of him for screaming that one time found a big spider in the bathroom, so he hopes it will be the same this time too).  
  
He’s still afraid, still quivering beneath the blanket, still jumps at the loudness of the thunder, and still lets out the occasional sniffle when the rain is so loud he can’t hear anything else, but as long as Koujaku is there, he feels like he’ll be okay. As long as Koujaku keeps sitting here with him, he will feel safe, and he might even stop being afraid - Koujaku will protect him just like he always says he will (and always does).  
  
It’s not really possible for him to _forget_ that there’s a storm raging outside, but if he focuses on the warmth of the other boy’s hand, the smell of dinner drifting in from the kitchen, and the sounds coming from the television, maybe he can calm down at least a little bit. So, he does just that, continuously telling himself that “it’s not scary” and “Koujaku is here, so it’s okay”, and, eventually, he is able to calm down, even feels his eyelids become heavy. He can’t help resting his head against the older boy’s shoulder, keeping a firm grip on his hand as one of the things he keeps repeating in his head slips out just before he falls asleep.  
  
“Koujaku is… my hero…”

**Author's Note:**

> ...I'm gonna be 100% honest - I've been having trouble finding motivation to write lately so I'm not sure I'll be able to write a full fic for each of these prompts, buT I'M GONNA DO MY BEST. c': OTL
> 
> Prompt from [here](http://kouao-week.tumblr.com/post/123154147896/finally-kicking-this-blog-off-now-that-were)~


End file.
